Don’t sell power outside, state tells sugar factories

The state government has sought the sugar factories in Karnataka generating power from bagasse not to sell power to neighbouring states until the summer ends, as power shortage is expected.

“Section 11 of the Electricity Act 2003 came into effect on February 2. According to this, sale of power to other states is prohibited,” said energy minister Shobha Karandlaje.

Sugar factories had asked the state to pay `6 per unit. “However, we told them `6 is too much and we are ready to pay only `5.30. The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has given clearance for the same,” she said.

Currently, the state gets 800 megawatt (MW) of power. “Now we will be getting 350MW more from co-generation units,” she said.
The state government had invoked Section 11 of the Electricity Act in 2010 too.

But last year, it decided against invoking the section as it had purchased enough power before summer. “This year, we tried to buy power, but transmission lines have not been free, and hence, we had to resort to this,” she noted.